Hungry for Change

Book excerpt: Hunger and obesity sit side by side in the world today because a food system dominated by wealth, markets and profits allows those with money to obtain above and beyond their needs while those without cannot get the fundamentals of life. The result is a growing polarization of global agriculture, between the haves and an ever-increasing number of have-nots. In "Hungry for Change," the author explains how capitalism was introduced into farming and how it transformed the terms and conditions by which farmers produce the food we eat.Written in accessible language and incorporating accounts from farmers and agricultural workers, "Hungry for Change" explains how the creation, structure and operation of the capitalist world food system is marginalizing family farmers, small-scale peasant farmers and landless rural workers as it entrenches us all in a global subsistence crisis. Building upon the idea of food sovereignty, Akram-Lodhi develops a set of solutions that together can resolve the current crisis of the world food system.